Lothor
Kiya Watanabe, also known as Lothor was an exiled evil ninja master and the primary antagonist of Power Rangers Ninja Storm. He arrived on Earth with an army of evil space ninjas (space aliens trained in the dark ninja arts) that he had gathered in space, intending to conquer the planet and destroy all the protecting ninja academies with their ninja masters, allowing him to become the ultimate dark ninja master. His minions at this point include Zurgane, Choobo and his nieces, Marah and Kapri. Later, he would be joined by Vexacus, Motodrone and Shimazu. His foot soldiers were creatures called Kelzaks and later (thanks to Marah's best friend Beevil) stronger red colored versions of the Kelzaks called Kelzak Furies. Character History Not much was known about Lothor until the second part of the three-part episode "The Samurai's Journey", when the son of Sensei Kanoi Watanabe, Cameron Watanabe, traveled back in time to obtain a magical amulet, he learned that Lothor was actually born on Earth as Kiya Watanabe, the identical twin brother of Kanoi Watanabe and Cam's uncle. This plot twist explained why Lothor and Sensei Watanabe had both been played by the same actor. Kiya had been a student at the Wind Ninja Academy, in the Earth Ninja category. When a young woman named Miko was inducted to the Academy with a mystical samurai pendant that was given to her by her father, he attempted to steal it, but was stopped by the young Sensei Watanabe and later Cam, who took the pendant back to the future. For his crimes, he was expelled from the ninja academy, stripped of his ninja rank, and banished from the Earth by his sensei. In his rage, he forswore his family and ninja heritage and declared himself to be Lothor. In space, he continued his mad search for power. He later took on his two nieces Marah and Kapri as apprentices at the urging of their parents. He found them to be very annoying, but kept them around because they were family - an odd sentiment for one that had so recently abandoned his family on Earth, possibly an attempt to fill the gap left in his life alone. Before his attack on Earth, Lothor had returned to Earth previously in secret, a violation of his former sensei's orders. His purpose on this visit is unknown, but while there, he killed the Bradleys, the adoptive parents of Hunter Bradley and Blake Bradley. These two were taken in by Sensei Omino and trained at the Thunder Ninja Academy, which, unfortunately, was the first place attacked by Lothor's army. He captured the Thunder Ninja students and Sensei Omino, and even managed to convince Hunter and Blake that the Wind Ninja's current sensei, Kanoi, was responsible for their adoptive parents' deaths. The Wind Ninja Academy, now under the leadership of Sensei Kanoi Watanabe, Lothor's brother, was the next target. Once again, Lothor kidnapped the students of the academy, and with his magic, he turned Sensei Watanabe into a guinea pig. During the series Lothor's victory was short-lived, and he soon realized that three students had escaped the purge of the Wind Ninja Academy (Shane, Dustin, and Tori). Being the only three remaining, they were presented with morphers, allowing them to become Ninja Power Rangers. These new Power Rangers foiled Lothor's plans on numerous occasions, and he has sent monstrous warriors after them, but they all fail. Nevertheless, he has always stuck by the evil code for destroying a Power Ranger, that "they must be in their true Ranger form." At one point, he had a mouse monster named Mr. Ratwell put several teenage girls under a love spell. His plan was to create a television show that brainwashes people into adoring him as their ruler. However, his plan is thwarted by the Rangers. Eventually, treason and betrayal among Lothor's generals led to them all dying off - at each other's hands or at the hands of the Power Rangers. It was soon revealed that these deaths had all been a part of Lothor's great plan: when each died, their spirits had gone to the "Abyss of Evil." With the help of Cam's stolen Samurai Amulet, Lothor was able to make the Abyss overflow and the dead generals and armies were all released once again, free to destroy the world. Shane was quickly able to destroy the resurrected generals with his Battlizer while the other Rangers tossed the other monsters back into the Abyss. Lothor then managed to use Cam's Samurai Amulet to drain the Rangers of their Ranger powers. Fortunately, Shane, Dustin and Tori were able to use their inner ninja powers to seal him and his deceased army in the Abyss of Evil, saving the planet. Legacy of Power Not long after Lothor's defeat, Mesogog emerged to menace the city of Reefside. Mesogog, who was aware of Lothor and held him in low regard, believed that the citizens would believe initally that the fallen villain had returned as he commenced his own campaign of world domination with an aerial assault on the city. Lothor was featured in a chronicle of Power Ranger history compiled by Tommy Oliver shortly after he formed the Dino Rangers, which was found by the nascent Ranger team in the Dino Lab. Final Defeat , Elsa, and Lothor in Mesogog's lab in PRDT Thunder Storm]] After escaping from the Abyss of Evil, Lothor allied himself with Mesogog. Capturing his brother and impersonating him, he brainwashed the three Wind Rangers into serving as his minions, in addition to releasing Zurgane and other monsters from the Abyss as well. However, the alliance between villains was defeated when Marah and Kapri, having forsaken the side of evil, freed Sensei Watanabe, who helped Cam and the Thunder Rangers recover their powers from the Abyss. The three Rangers then freed their brainwashed friends, and they teamed up with the Dino Rangers to battle the villains. When his plans failed, Mesogog turned on Lothor, using his psionic brain-blast to shrink him down to the size of an action figure, and trapped him in a jar as a trophy for his victory. The fate of the jar imprisoning him is never made clear, but it is possible that it, with Lothor still inside, was destroyed in the destruction of Mesogog's Island Fortress by Hayley presumably sending him back to the Abyss of Evil. Alternate Lothor In an alternate universe, Tori Hanson met an alternate Lothor who is the Mayor of Blue Bay Harbor. His astrological sign is Libra. At first, Mayor Lothor didn't want to help Tori fight the Evil Ninja Rangers. When Tori was getting beaten by them, Mayor Lothor arrived with his group as well as some Kelzaks where they managed to defeat the Evil Ninja Rangers. Personality As Kiya Watanabe, he was a self-pitying, pessimistic, and insecure ninja student that thinks highly of himself. To compensate for his massive insecurities, he developed an overbearing ego, and became more and more narcissistic, megalomaniacal, and arrogant, thinking that he has a "personality" unlike his brother, even at a young age, and he craved power and secretly began practicing dark ninja magic, though he can be gregarious and friendly, as shown when he told Cam that they are twins and briefly socialized with him. As Lothor, he is a sadistic, ruthless, sly, cruel, cunning, manipulative, narcissistic, and egomaniacal Dark Ninja Master that does what ever he can to take over the world, before the series, it is revealed in the second part of the three-part episode "Thunder Strangers" that Lothor even killed the Thunder Rangers' adoptive parents, he is once again arrogant, megalomaniacal, and egotistical, but he is now manipulative, being able to trick the Thunder Rangers that Sensei Wanabi was the cause of what happen to their parents; despite being a villain however, Lothor is infamously comical, bumbling, and more often than not, incompetent when it comes to levels of evil, and therefore has a campy sense of humor, which is often reflected from his frustrations with his monsters/nieces when they fail to best the Power Rangers, or in some predictable occasions (e.g. in the episode "Tongue and Cheek", after making Slob Goblin grow, he stares at the camera and asks the audience if they really expected him to make it smaller.). Such fourth wall breaking manifested itself in several other of Lothor's asides (in the final part of the two-part series finale episode "Storm Before the Calm", while piloting the Lothorzord the Rangers would fight, he comments on the battle was the most fun he'd had all season) as well. Powers and Abilities Being the leader of the Evil Space Ninjas, Lothor is one of the strongest and most powerful villains in Power Rangers Ninja Storm, in the final part of the two-part series finale episode "Storm Before the Calm", he is powerful enough to nearly defeat all six of the Ninja Storm Rangers with ease. Kiya Watanabe * Hand-To-Hand Combat: 'Being a Ninja Student, Kiya is a skilled fighter at martial arts, being able to nearly best Cam in battle. * '''Energy Force: '''Kiya can unleash powerful energy forces from his hands that can push his enemies afar. * '''Force Field: '''Kiya can create an energy shield around himself, his allies and/or enemies. * '''Tractor Beam: '''Kiya can fire a clear blue colored tractor beam that he can grab his enemies with. Lothor *'Hand-to-Hand Combat: Despite his exile from the Wind Ninja Academy, Lothor had grown to be a proficient master of martial arts and is now a more expert fighter. *'Super Strength:' In addition to being an expert combatant, Lothor also possessed superhuman strength. One example of this was during an altercation with his nephew Cam as the Green Samurai Ranger in Super Samurai mode. Lothor easily repelled his nephew's offensive strike with just one gesture of his hand. *'Kelzak Summoning: '''Lothor can summon an army of foot soldiers called Kelzaks to aid him in battle. *'Levitation:' In the third and final part of the three-part episode "The Samurai's Journey" Lothor has the ability to levitate in the air. *'Teleport Swipe: By swiping his hands at a target, he can send anyone to any place at will, as showed in the final part of the three-part episode "The Samurai's Journey". *Self Awareness-Like most of his entourage, he makes fun of Power Ranger tropes such as growing monsters such as when he barrated Marah and Kapri before they grew Footzilla. The most blatant example of his self-awareness happened in the episode "Tongue and Cheek" when he turned to us and said "what did you expect? He wasn't going to get smaller." *'''Energy Lasers: Lothor's main choice of attack and strongest ability, it is the upgraded form of the Energy Force ability, he can fire powerful red energy lasers from the palm of his hands. This attack proved very effective against the Rangers in his ninja aerial attack, he can ether fire them in rapid succession or in a beam formation. They also have the ability to turn people into animals, as shown in the pilot episode "Prelude to a Storm", when one of his energy lasers turn Sensei Kanoi Watanabe into a guinea pig, also in the final part of the two-part series finale episode "Storm Before the Calm", his lasers are powerful enough to destroy Shane's Battlizer armor in just one strike. Unfortunately for Lothor, during his final battle against Mesogog, Lothor used his lasers against Mesogog twice in the battle (with the second time striking his opponent with a direct hit), only for Mesogog to be unfazed by the attack. Arsenal *'Alien Manager:' Lothor carries a cell phone-like object called the P. A. M, which he can use to summon monsters, or to make that monster grow with the Scroll of Empowerment. *'Lothor's Lairship': Lothors main base and lair is a massive space ship that can fire red energy lasers, have small grappling claws and can fire a ray that can make heroes turn agents each other, in the series finale, he self-destructed the ship. *'Lothorzord': Only used in the series finale, Lothor can pilot his very own Zord, it was destroyed when battling the Storm Megazord. *'The Green Ranger's Samurai Amulet: '''In the final part of the two-part series finale episode "Storm Before the Calm", Lothor has successfully manage to capture the Green Ranger and take his amulet, with it, he can steal the Ninja Storm Rangers' powers. Behind the Scenes Portrayal *Lothor is portrayed by late Grant McFarland. As a teenager, he is portrayed by Daniel Sing. Etymology *Lothor's name is an error for "loath", such as how he loathes his twin brother Kanoi. Notes *Lothor carries a few similarities with Rita Repulsa, the main antagonist from the very first season on Power Rangers, such as being considered a comical villain, although Lothor is less inclined to moments of goofiness like Rita (those were reserved for his two nieces). Both have bases around the earth's orbit and both suffer from some kind of symptom caused by stress (Rita has headaches and Lothor suffers acid reflux). *Lothor is also very similar to Master Org, the primary villain of the previous season, ''Power Rangers Wild Force: **Both chose to become evil. **Both villains have a backstory of why they become evil (Master Org: because he lost his chance to marry Eliabeth Evans and got his spotlight taken over by Richard Evans, Lothor: because he tried to steal the samurai pendant from Miko). **Both villains have two servants that serves as the comic relief (Master Org: Jindrax and Toxica, Lothor: Marah and Kapri). **Both villains have a grudge over a Ranger (Master Org: the Red Ranger, Lothor: the Green Ranger). **Both villains destroyed their own lairs near the end of that season. ***They are however, both opposite in many ways. ****Master Org is the ruler of monstrous creatures called Orgs, his lair (The Nexus) takes place underground, he has magic powers, has a staff for combat, has multiple forms and is incredibly evil and serious with little to no humorous and/or comedic qualities added to him. In fact, he has darkened the show by killing the main character Cole Evans's parents, so compared to Lothor, he is nowhere near as comedic compared to him. ****Lothor on the other hand is the leader of alien-like monsters and space ninjas, his lair takes place on a ship (Lothor's Lairship) in outer space, he has ninja powers, fights with just his hands, does not have a second form and while he can ''be serious here and there, he is more laid back and acts as both the main villain and comic relief. *Lothor was based on Boss Tau Zant, from ''Ninpu Sentai Hurricanger. His Megazord is actually Tao Zant's last form in Hurricanger. *He claims to have taken his new name from an ancient warrior of evil. *He also claims to be related to Marah and Kapri by marriage only. *Lothor's theme seems to be that of a centipede. This is a tie-in to his Hurricanger counterpart, who really is an alien centipede. *As a student at the Wind Ninja Academy, he wore a yellow and black uniform, implying that he studied under the Earth element. As centipedes live in soil, Lothor's motif may be inspired from this. *Unlike most other Power Rangers villains in the canon of the show, Lothor actually had a sense of humor, if a bit on the sadistic side. **This is an actual contrast to his Japanese counter part, Boss Tau Zant, who had no sense of humor whatsoever, therefore is far more evil then Lothor. *He suffers from acid reflux, a sign of stress. In one episode, he is seen blending a drink to try to counter his case of acid reflux. *Despite his evil ways, Lothor was actually well versed in pop culture. Though it could be rubbed off from his nieces. *Despite being a comedic villain, Lothor was indeed powerful in his own right. He held his own against the entire Ninja Storm team in the series finale, not taking many hits at all and capturing their Ranger powers, this makes him (along with Queen Bansheera and Master Org) one of the strongest and most powerful villains in the the entire Power Ranger franchises. *According to the episode "The Wild Wipeout", he is a Libra. *Lothor is the second villain in the series to be related to a ranger, as he is Cam's uncle. The first was Astronema, Andros' sister. Unlike Astronema, Lothor chose to be evil while Astronema was kidnapped and raised to be evil. *When he went to the academy, he was an Earth ninja *Lothor was the second to choose to become evil after Master Org. This will be followed by Mesogog, Venjix Virus and Lord Drakkon. *Lothor is the only villain to be defeated in Dino Thunder but not destroyed by a Ranger or other villain, but by an ally of Power Rangers (Hayley Ziktor). That is obviously assuming he didn't survive Mesogog's Island Fortress being destroyed and was destroyed with it. Appearances * Power Rangers Ninja Storm **Episode 1: Prelude to a Storm **Episode 2: There's No “I” In Team **Episode 3: Beauty and the Beach **Episode 4: Looming Thunder **Episode 5: Thunder Strangers, Part I **Episode 6: Thunder Strangers, Part II **Episode 7: Thunder Strangers, Part III **Episode 8: Nowhere to Grow **Episode 9: Snip It, Snip It Good **Episode 10: Return of Thunder, Part I **Episode 11: Return of Thunder, Part II **Episode 12: Return of Thunder, Part III **Episode 13: Return of Thunder, Part IV **Episode 14: Boxing Bopp-a-Roo **Episode 15: Pork Chopped **Episode 16: The Samurai's Journey, Part I **Episode 17: The Samurai's Journey, Part II **Episode 18: The Samurai's Journey, Part III **Episode 19: Scent of a Ranger **Episode 20: I Love Lothor **Episode 21: Good Will Hunter **Episode 22: All About Beevil **Episode 23: Sensei Switcheroo **Episode 24: Tongue and Cheek **Episode 25: Brothers In Arms **Episode 26: Shane's Karma, Part I **Episode 27: Shane's Karma, Part II **Episode 28: Shimazu Returns, Part I **Episode 29: Shimazu Returns, Part II **Episode 30: The Wild Wipeout **Episode 31: Double-Edged Blake **Episode 32: Eye of the Storm **Episode 33: General Deception, Part I **Episode 34: General Deception, Part II **Episode 35: A Gem of a Day **Episode 36: Down and Dirty **Episode 37: Storm Before the Calm, Part I **Episode 38/Finale: Storm Before the Calm, Part II * Power Rangers Dino Thunder **Episode 2: Day of the Dino Part 2 **Episode 4: Legacy of Power **Episode 31: Thunder Storm Part 1 **Episode 32: Thunder Storm Part 2 }} See Also (Final Boss) References Category:Ninja Storm Category:PR Villains Category:Wind Ninja Category:Main PR Villains Category:PR-exclusive Villains Category:Final PR Villains Category:Lothor's Army Category:Masterminds Category:Deceased PR Villains